How to Rise Up After Life Knocks You Down

“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is going to hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward!”

Those are the lines from Rocky Balboa (2006).

Steve Jobs was fired from the company that he started. He did not give up. He used this experience to build up his character, leadership and turned his struggles into strengths.

Eventually, Jobs went back to Apple and transformed the company into one of the most valuable companies in the world.

The same thing happened to Walt Disney. He was fired by a company due to his “lack of imagination”. However, that did not deter his spirit to start his own company and built the Walt Disney theme park and Mickey Mouse into stardom.

As you can see, if you want to make a comeback, you must learn how to manage your failures. You must learn how to rise up when life knocks you down.

Always remember this, life can knock you down seven times, but you can decide and get back up again for the eighth time.

In The Pursuit of Happiness, Will Smith said:

“Don’t ever let someone tell you that you can’t do something. Not even me. You got a dream, you gotta protect it. When people can’t do something themselves, their gonna tell you that you can’t do it. You want something, go get it. Period.”

You heard him. Go get it, period. No one can tell you what you are and are not capable of, and don’t let them. Hard work will get you far; but determination, farther. Keeping your head above water will always be the hardest part, because everything you face is pulling you down. However you will get stronger; strong enough where it doesn’t feel like treading water anymore, but something like swimming. We come out a little bruised, but our skin thickens. We’re all going to make it, everything will turn out exactly how it’s supposed too. So I hope you’re all enjoying your bumps and detours, because I’m just starting mine.

Here’s are some tips to help you get up when knocked down:

THEY SHED SHAME

At first, it’s not unusual to feel embarrassed and ashamed. Get rid of it. It will only make it harder for you to find your way out. Realize that people make mistakes and bad decisions, he says. When you catch yourself wallowing in shame, work on changing your thoughts to what you can do about the situation to make it better and take action.

One woman survived 48 days in a van in Nevada and says finding a symbol of hope was crucial. She planned a family reunion to keep her mentally focused on reconnecting with the outside world, and to give her something to hope for.

THEY EMBRACE THE CHOICES YOU HAVE

If you just lost your job or got diagnosed with a serious illness, it may not seem like there is any choice at all. You can choose to let a terrible situation consume you, she says. “Or we can make choices about how we respond to things in the moment and how we want to approach a situation moving forward.”

THEY SEEK OUT SUPPORT

As a teenager, Cheryl Hunter was traveling overseas when she says she was abducted by two men who attacked her and then left her for dead. She’s since turned that experience into a career as a motivational speaker, coach, and author of Use It: Turn Setbacks into Success. One of the important areas of her recovery she says was to have a supportive community to give nonjudgmental feedback and encouragement. You may find this among friends and family, support groups, therapists, or others who can listen to what you have to say without correcting or trying to fix your feelings or words.

“That’s essential when you’re going through something negative so you don’t like groove those neural pathways of habitual, negative thought,” Hunter says.

THEY REFRAME

You have to reframe the situation in a way that you can authentically believe it, Hunter says. You can choose to look at your setback as a horrible embarrassment, injustice, or tragedy. Or you can look the situation as a series of circumstances you didn’t choose for yourself, but are challenged to endure and overcome.

Think about a time when you were faced with a similar break in your path to achieving a goal. That outcome of that situation likely tied directly to your reaction to it.

Do you want to repeat that outcome or create a new one? That is entirely up to you.